"donating" plasma

I know it's actually selling since you're getting paid but the place in my area calls it donating.
Anyways, does it hurt? How long does it take? How often can I do it? ABOUT how much money do you make doing it? What are the health risks??
I'm scared to do it mostly because I don't want to feel really tired or anything after because I'm already really tired.

Anything else I need to know??

ETA: I'm still nursing my 2.5 year old, but she only nurses for about 10 mins a day TOTAL. Does that matter?

it depends on your blood type, 0neg gets more. you get like 50 a week. it doesnt hurt unless your like a baby with needles... its not worth my time and effort imo

Quoting Ailey+Lennon+Renner's Mom:" it depends on your blood type, 0neg gets more. you get like 50 a week. it doesnt hurt unless your like a baby with needles... its not worth my time and effort imo"

the place I used to go to in college didn't pay more for being O-.

I went 2-3 times a week, and got an additional $10 for each subsequent visit. $35 for the first visit of the week.
If you eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water, it shouldn't affect the way you feel.

It's maybe $50. It takes a while. Maybe an hour. It makes your arm cold but that's about it. You have to have high iron and meet a weight requirement. Most women don't meet both.

How much you get depends on what antibodies are in your blood. On average with no special programs it's $25-35 per donation. It also depends on your size. Smaller people get paid less because they can't collect as much plasma.

Again, time will depend on your size and also on how hydrated you are. It takes my husband 45 minutes but he has nice, big veins. It takes me about 90 minutes because I have small veins and my blood doesn't flow very easily through the centrifuge. You can do it twice a week, with two-three days in between your donations.

It doesn't hurt, save for when they poke you, but it is uncomfortable. You don't get an IV cath, you sit there with a needle in your arm until you've reached your collection amount. Personally, I'm not bothered by the draw cycle but the return cycle, where they push your red blood cells back in, makes my vein feel like a balloon being inflated and it kiind of burns.

Make sure you eat a healthy meal before going, with not too much sugar, don't smoke before or after donation and stay very well hydrated. The more hydrated you are going in, the better you'll feel coming out. And if during donstion you start feeling really bad, don't be afraid to yell for a technician.

I wish I could, I could pay for gas going once a week!
My best friend works at our plasma center.
Here its $60 your first time and then they give you a a debit card that gets loaded each time you go with money. They have a limit of once every 3 days though.

Quoting Ailey+Lennon+Renner's Mom:" it depends on your blood type, 0neg gets more. you get like 50 a week. it doesnt hurt unless your like a baby with needles... its not worth my time and effort imo"

Yeah a guy I used to work with said he used to do it but the place was packed with homeless people the second they opened. He said he had to wait six hours to make 50 bucks and it was not worth it at all.